Camera-brace.



No. 774,940. PATBNTED NOV. 15, 1904.v

J. GODDARD.

CAMERA BRAGE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1904- NO' MODEL.

VM NE55E5+ UNITED STATES Patented November 15, 1904.

JOSEPH GODDARD, OF RQCHESTER, NEW YORK.

CAMERA-BRACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 774,940, dated November15, 1904.

To all whmn it 777/(I/Z/ concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH GODDARD, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York,have invented a new and Improved (Jamera-Brace, of which the followingis a specification, reference being made to the accompanying drawings,which are as follows:

Figure 1 is a camera having my improved brace attached to the bedthereof. The lensstandard of the camera is shown as drawn out upon theforward extension of the bed. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section of the bedseen to the left of the line m y, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of oneof my braces removed from the camera and shows in dotted lines thepositions that the arms R and R take when folded up. Fig. at is .a planor top view of the plate P, Fig. 3.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

This invention, while applicable to many cameras ingeneral, is moreespecially adapted to folding view-cameras-that is, cameras in which thebed is made in two or more sections,

, arranged to fold up, so as to reduce the space occupied by the camerain transportation or in carrying.

The object of my present invention is to provide a brace for suchcameras which shall be readily attachable to any and all cameras of thegeneral class described without the necessity of mutilating the camerasin any way or attaching thereto anything more than the usual screws orscrew-studs.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a brace of the characterindicated which shall be equally applicable to any of the differentmakes of folding view-cameras now onv the market.

With this object in view my invention consists, essentially, in anelement capable of being readily and rigidly attached to one of themembers of the bed of a folding view-camera and in a bracing-piece,preferably articulating with such element and capable of engaging asuitable screw or stud on another member of the camera-bed in such a wayas to rigidly lock the members of such camera-bed, so as to preventtheir bending under the weight or strain of the parts carried thereby.It is important, therefore, that there shall be a brace rigidly attachedto a fixed point upon one camera element and that this brace shouldextend and be secured to a fixed point projecting somewhat beyond,preferably below, another element of the camera-bed.

Referring to the drawings, P constitutes the body-plate of mycamera-brace which is struck out of sheet metal and formed up, asindicated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4:. There is struck out from thisbody-piece P, as indicated in Figs. 8 and 4, openings 0 0, located atthe angle or bend in the plate P and so conformed as to render suchplate by reason of such holes readily insertible under the heads of thescrew-studs Z) I), as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the arrangement beingsuch, as will at once be understood, that when forced into place, asindicated in Figs. 1 and 2, the plates P are rigidly held in engagementwith the studs I) and against the under. side of the central section ofthe bed A of the camera.

Articulating with the lower end of the plate P and upon the rivets 2'are seen the bracinglinks R R. These links R R have slots in their freeends for engagement, respectively, with the screws 92 and n, screwedinto the inner face of the outside bars of the rear and front extensionsA and A respectively, of the camera-bed. The relative positions of theparts when in use are clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The manner of applying my brace is as follows: The screw-studs .7) t, ofwhich there are two for each brace, are properly located and screwedinto the under side of the central sectionA of the camera-bed. Afterthese screws 6 have been thus inserted to the proper depth thebracing-plate P is forced into position, and the bracing-links R and Rare, after the camera-bed has been opened out to its extended position,properly located, and the proper positions for the screws 72 and n areindicated by marking the location of the slots m and m in the outer endsof the bracing-links R and R, and then such screws n and 77/ areinserted in their proper places on the inner faces of the outside railsof the rear and front sections of the camera-bed A and A respectively,after which the bracing-links R and R are inserted with their free orouter ends into place over the screws a and a.

The body-plate P of my brace being rigidly secured to the centralsection A of the camera-bed constitutes then, with the bracinglinks RandR, brackets for receiving and sustaining any thrust tending to bend ordeflect any one of the sections of the camera-bed out of the normalplane therefor. It will at once be understood that this bracing actionoperates to prevent a deflection or bending upwardly or downwardly ofeither end of any one of the camera-bed sections A, A, or A In thedrawings, 0 represents the camerabox, and e the foot-plate therefor,while F indicates the camera-front, and grits foot-plate.

t and 6 indicate the usual operating-heads for the camera-box C and thecamera-front F.

9" indicates the usual racks on the upper face of the camera-bed.

it indicates the hinge between the central and front sections A and A ofthe camerabed, and B indicates the bellows of the camera.

Of my braces there will of course usually be two applied to a camera-oneunder each side edge of the camera-bed.

The position of the bracing-links R and B when folded up for packing ortransportation is indicated in Fig. 3 at R a and R [0, respectively.

What I claim is 1. In abrace for a camera having a sectional foldingbed, a body-plate and means for rigidly but removably securing the sameto one of two adjacent sections of such camera-bed, a bracing-link andmeans for connecting the same to such body-plate and to a fixed point onthe other section of such camera-bed, such bracing-link articulating atone end upon a suitable stud or screw.

2. In a brace for acamera having a sectional bed, a body-plate and meansfor rigidly but removably securing the same to one of two adjacentsections of such camera-bed, abracing-link and means for connecting thesame to such body-plate and to a fixed point on the other section ofsuch camera-bed, such bracing-link articulating at one end upon asuitable stud or screw.

3. In a brace for a camera having a sectional folding bed, a body-plateand means for rigidly but removably securing the same to one of twoadjacent sections of such camera-bed, a bracing-link and means forconnecting the same to such body-plate and to a fixed point on the othersection of such camera-bed, such bracing-link articulating at one endwith such body-plate and having a slot in its other end arranged toengage a screw or stud on the other section of such camera-bed.

4c. In a brace for a camerahaving a sectional bed, a body-plate andmeans for rigidly but removably securing the same to one of two adjacentsections of such camera-bed, a bracing-link and means for connecting thesame to such body-plate and to a fixed point on the other section ofsuch camera-bed, such bracing-link articulating at one end with suchbody-plate and having a slot in its other end arranged to engage a screwor stud on the other section of such camera-bed.

5. In a brace for a camera having a sectional folding bed, a body-plateand means for rigidly but removably securing the same to the center oneof three sections of such camerabed, bracing-links each articulatingwith such body-plate at one end and each having a slot in its other endfor engaging a screwor stud on one of the adjacent sections of suchcamerabed.

6. In a brace for a camera having a sectional bed, a body-plate andmeans for rigidly but removably securing the same to the center one ofthree sections of such camera-bed, bracinglinks each articulating withsuch body-plate at one end and each having a slot in its other end forengaging a screw or stud on one of the adjacent sections of suchcamera-bed.

JOSEPH GODDARD.

\Vitnesses:

OSBORNE F. GURNEY, CLARA M. SIEUER.

